Even though they were minutes away from finishing the dungeon, the Ruins still had some fight left.

Stone rumbled from either side of the platform, warning of the next danger. Large square blocks pushed out of the walls, and two pairs of cannons poked through the new openings.

Severance looked from one side to the other. These cannons were new. And if that wasn't bad enough, familiar screeching and chattering came with the arrival of the cannons.

More monkeys. How many did this dungeon have?

Red light flashed across his vision. He blinked and raised a hand to shield his eyes. What was-?

"Watch out!" Awesome Dude lunged and shoved him aside. Orange light flashed. A wave of hot air collided with them, while a thunderclap of sound boomed. Severance staggered, the breath knocked out of him.

"What was that?!"

"The cannons!" Awesome Dude shouted. "Watch for the cannons!"

Red light spilled onto the platform like crimson spotlights, tracking across the floor. There were four, one for each cannon. Once Severance realized what was going on, it wasn't all that difficult to stay out of their path. The monkeys, however, made things a little challenging.

They split apart into three groups—one each heading for Awesome Dude and Severance, and the third making a beeline for Ironhide. Awesome Dude ran to intercept the last group.

Severance kited his parade of grimli along the edge of the platform—there were too many to fight at once, and the only two attack skills he could freely use were Pivot Cut and Skyfall. All the others had a cast time, which didn't exactly work very well when being mauled by naked monkeys.

One of the monkeys chasing him abruptly dropped, an arrow buried in its skull. It hadn't even made a sound. Severance didn't stop running, but he cast a glance upwards at Atrocity's pillar. The Wanderer was too high to be seen, yet somehow, he'd managed to snipe a monkey from that distance.

That kind of accuracy on a moving target from so far away was something else. Severance led his pack of monkeys around in a wide, angling path, avoiding the red targeting lights from the cannons. If he made them an easy target, surely Atrocity would be able to pick them off one at a time.

While he did so, Awesome Dude used a different method. He purposely ran through the cannons' targeting lights, leading his monkeys straight into the jaws of death. It took three cannon blasts to take out nearly all of them. And all he had to do was run around and get the timing right.

By then, Atrocity had sniped three more monkeys, which left Severance two to deal with. That was much more manageable, and he was able to stop and Pivot Cut to the other side of them, then use Skyfall to cut down one. The last monkey fell when an arrow punched through the back of its head.

"Mend," Severance muttered. He wiped the back of his gloved hand across his face to get some of the blood spatter off his face. A swirl of warmth restored some of his health. Though he'd managed to avoid most of the monkeys' crazed attacks, he still got clipped by a few.

A boom echoed across the platform, and he turned to see his friend run out of a cloud of thick smoke, cackling with glee. Awesome Dude's face was smeared in soot and ash. Four monkeys had survived the last blast, and so he steered right into the nearest targeting beam of light.

"Ward." Severance tossed the shield on the Shade, then followed it with a Mend. Surprisingly, Awesome Dude hadn't taken too much damage from his reckless cat-and-mouse game with cannon balls and monkeys.

But that changed in a blink of an eye.

As it turned out, even naked monkeys could learn a new trick.

Three ran around the red lightbeam of doom. The fourth leapt onto Awesome Dude's back like a wildcat, tackling him to the ground. In that moment where he was caught off guard and stunned, the red tracking light swept over them both. It stopped.

And a terrific boom lit the air.

The Shade's health dropped into red. He clung to life by a thread. Wide-eyed, Severance hastily threw out a Mend, but three remaining monkeys careened back into the smoke like bloodthirsty fiends. That last sliver of health vanished, and Awesome Dude's entire health bar became blank.

Three naked monkeys burst out of the dwindling smoke, screeching madly as they charged for Severance.

He backpedaled, feeling the tiniest spark of fear.

Stone rumbled and the cannons slid back into the walls. Having successfully murdered someone, their job was done. That didn't make Severance feel better. He turned and ran.

Hopefully Atrocity would be able to take one or two of these beasts out. He passed by his friend's body and grimaced. That looked like it hurt.

As long as he was evading monkeys, he couldn't stop and Revive. He contemplated using Precaution, which had a stored Revive, but then he decided against it—things weren't so dire yet.

With Atrocity sniping from the pillar, it was only a matter of time until these monkeys would disappear into purple death sparkles. Then he'd have a moment before the next batch showed up to Revive Awesome Dude.

That was the plan, anyway.

Until a single arrow rocketed down from above like a missile, slamming into the platform between Severance and the monkeys. The concussive blast was both familiar and horrifying as both he and they were knocked flat into a stunned stupor.

You crazy—! Severance silently growled at a certain Wanderer perched on top of a high pillar. Stars twinkled before his eyes, a sort of dazed numbness rendering his limbs uncooperative. Even if he wanted to move, he couldn't. It was an odd feeling.

Another arrow sang down from above, spearing a stunned monkey in the throat. It didn't even have the chance to make a sound. A few moments passed, during which the only sound he could hear was the spinning, awful shriek of the metal ball spinning on its tracks not so far away.

It made his admiration grow for their tank, because holding off that horrific monster couldn't be very fun. Severance wondered if the small, trickling hp loss Ironhide suffered was from his ears going deaf from being in such close proximity to that noise.

By the time Severance regained his senses, Atrocity had dealt with the last two monkeys. It was nice he was being so helpful, truly, but Severance knew the Wanderer was able to headshot them from a mile away even if they were running around like well, like berserk naked monkeys.

The Concussive Shot was just unnecessary. Severance threw a dark look up at the pillar. He hoped Atrocity could see it.

Then he set about to Reviving Awesome Dude. He wasn't sure how much time had passed since the last batch of monkeys had been defeated, or how much time left until Valentin would be able to hit that last switch. The only thing he knew was that he really didn't want to be the only one standing when the next trap sprang out of the walls.

He gathered himself and used Revive. It took ten seconds to charge the skill. Ten seconds might not seem that long, but when so many things lay at stake, it could easily stretch into eternity.

Four seconds into the charge, trap doors abruptly popped open on the platform. It was hard not to notice this, especially when one was roughly six feet away from where he stood.

Five seconds into the charge, monkeys climbed out of the open trapdoors. Like the previous ones, they were naked except for ragged loincloths and a small strip of fur on their heads. Unlike the previous monkeys, these new ones were about triple the size.

Oh, and they carried acme-style bombs in their arms, complete with a sparking fuse. They paused, looking around. After a moment, they noticed Severance.

He stared at them. What kind of cartoon had this dungeon turned into?

And nine seconds into the charge, the one closest to Severance bared its teeth in what undeniably was a grin. It began to walk over to him, the bomb held casually in its arms as if it were a bag of groceries. Sparks flew off its shortening fuse.

Revive finished building, and a gust of wind flew towards Awesome Dude.

The second the skill fired off, Severance was moving. All four of the monkeys ignored Awesome Dude, who was lifted off the ground in a swirl of healing wind. It'd take a few seconds for him to come back to life, and even when he did, he'd have only a sliver of health.

With a sinking heart, Severance realized things were about to go terribly wrong.

Four bomb-wielding monkeys. One came tromping after him, wearing a manic expression of entirely too much glee for one carrying a cartoonish bomb. And the other three —they went for Ironhide.

He was a tank, sure, but come on—there was no way he'd survive three point-blank explosions.

"Crap," Severance muttered. There was only one thing he could do.

He ran for Ironhide.

A single arrow dropped from the sky. With insane accuracy, it struck one monkey's foot. The monkey stumbled, shrieked something that sounded oddly similar to the sound someone would make when stubbing their toe really badly, and it slowed to a pitiful shuffle. Its two buddies carried on, leaving it behind.

The third continued to charge after Severance with a single-minded focus.

"Rush!" A dark blur appeared beside this last monkey. Even with a tiny amount of health, Awesome Dude wasn't about to stay out of the fight. He laughed, clearly enjoying himself, and lifted a single Claw high.

"Venom Claw." A faint green sheen coated the blades. He slashed it across the monkey's back. "Venom Siphon!"

The other Claw sliced into the same area, deepening the wound. If Severance had been paying attention, he would have noticed a small portion of his friend's health recover.

But he wasn't. He was busy racing the monkeys, which were surprisingly pretty fast for their size. Even going all out, he was just able to pass them and skid to a stop between them and Ironhide.

Just two of them, he thought, and tried very hard not to panic. Because those fuses had barely a centimeter left. Those bombs were about to blow.

He had to keep them away from Ironhide. If the tank fell, that metal ball would destroy the platform and they'd fail this dungeon.

One of the monkeys shuddered, the razer tip of an arrow bursting through its eye in a spray of blood. It collapsed. The bomb dropped from its fingers, hitting the ground with a dull thud. It rolled. And somehow its fuse got snuffed out.

Atrocity, Severance realized. And then he was moving without even really thinking about it, because there was one bomb left. Atrocity wouldn't have the time to set up another headshot and Awesome Dude had turned to deal with the one that'd been slowed by a shot to the foot.

That meant it was left to him.

He hit the monkey in a flying tackle, shoving it clear off its feet. They went down hard, Severance sprawled on top.

+1 Agility

The cold, round bomb was trapped between them, and he could feel its hard surface digging into his ribcage. Lifting his head, he looked the monkey in its face. It blinked at him. Then it cackled.

Boom.

The world vanished in an instant. Severance floated in a quiet, distant void. Snow drifted past his vision. And then:

You have Fallen. You have gained Weakness.

Would you like to activate Precaution?

Ugh, he mentally groaned. That went about as well as expected. Though whether it paid off remained to be seen. He gave the Precaution buff a mental nudge, bracing for the dizzying sensation of being returned to the land of the living.

It was weird, being lifted and then stood up like he was a mere doll, but once his feet touched down, control was returned to him. With a shake of his head, he opened his eyes.

The platform was silent.

That was the first thing that struck him. There were no explosions, no monkey screeching, no rumbling of pillars, no freight train shriek of a huge metal ball spinning on electrified tracks—there was only silence.

He brushed the ash off of his ruined shirt, which hung from his shoulders in tatters. Was it over?

"What was that?"

Severance turned to see the tank walking over. Ironhide appeared a little beaten up, but he was still alive and in one piece.

That brought a large sense of relief. That meant that the last bomb hadn't gotten him. A quick glance at the party list saw that everyone else had survived, though Awesome Dude was still in the red zone.

Distracted by this, Severance asked, "What?"

"You died," Ironhide informed him, as if Severance had been unaware of that fact.

"He got himself blown up," a cheerful voice spoke. That was Atrocity, coming to join them. He'd slung his large bow over a shoulder, where it rested next to a quiver half-full of arrows. "Pretty impressive, Sev."

Severance eyed the Wanderer suspiciously. Was that an insult or a compliment? He decided to take it as the latter, because he totally deserved it after what he went through. "Thanks."

Atrocity gave a lopsided smile in response.

"How did you Revive?" Ironhide asked. His gaze seemed a little too sharp, and Severance had to fight not to flinch. "That's not a normal healer skill."

"No," Severance said, fully aware of what Ironhide was getting at. Healers could Revive others, yes, but the skill didn't work on themselves. Or at least, it wasn't supposed to.

A flash of red in his peripheral vision told him that Valentin had also joined them. The knightglaive must have hit the switch just as that last bomb exploded.

I probably didn't even need to use Precaution, Severance thought sourly. He could have just spawned outside the dungeon and waited for the team to emerge.

"A clan skill, then." Ironhide hadn't looked away.

Severance shifted his weight, growing uncomfortable beneath the attention. Was it really so important to discuss this now? They'd finished the dungeon. Wasn't there treasure to dig up now?

He bit back a sigh. "Yeah."

"Right." Ironhide seemed to consider this. Then he offered a tiny smile. "That's very handy."

To Severance's surprise, he said nothing more. He merely turned and gestured to the others. "Okay, let's see what we got here."

In the center of the platform sat a treasure chest. It couldn't be anything else. Not with all the ornate carvings in the wood and the gilded corners. As they all gathered around, Awesome Dude came up beside him and elbowed him.

"Hey," he said.

Severance elbowed him back. "What?"

The Shade only grinned, before going to peer over Ironhide's shoulder. The tank crouched before the treasure chest, and already had it open.

Severance followed suit, curious to see what it was inside. The only item was a pair of viridian green Claws, which went to a delighted Awesome Dude. And there were four Amaurite Crystals. Ironhide handed them out to everyone save himself.

"Not bad, but I was hoping there would be more this run." Ironhide gave the chest one last look.

So did Severance. "What about that?"

He pointed at the small scroll sitting in the bottom of the chest. It had a black ribbon tied around it, holding it closed.

Ironhide frowned. "There's nothing left."

"No, there's something there." Severance stooped and picked up the scroll. He held it up, watching as everyone showed various reactions of surprise. Well, except Valentin. The guy remained as stoic as ever.

Ironhide shook his head. "I didn't see that in there. In fact, I'm sure it wasn't there before. Did anyone else notice anything?"

"No." Valentin didn't even blink.

Awesome Dude shrugged, while Atrocity drawled out a "Nope."

"Weird." Severance looked down at the scroll in his hands. Had it appeared in the chest just now? Or did no one notice it until he did?

He turned it over, fingers brushing the black ribbon. And then he froze, for a small symbol at one edge of the scroll caught his eye. Stamped in black ink was a small center swirl with seven spokes edging outward. If someone took away five of the seven spokes, it would look exactly like the Clan tattoo on his shoulder.

"Oh," he said, very quietly.